The current status of bioenergy - Mathieu Flamini

As we illustrate throughout this course, biochemical principles provide important information for society as whole. Some of these biochemical principles feed into the wider economy through impacts on industry.

A good example of this is provided by Mathieu Flamini, a footballer who has been capped by the France national team and played for the French team Marseille, the English team Arsenal, and the Italian side Milan, among others. It is less well known that he also co-founded a company, called GFBiochemicals. It produces levulinic acid, a chemical identified by the US Department of Energy (DoE) as one of the 12 key molecules that could help unlock a “greener” world. The DoE says these “building block chemicals” can be produced from sugars via biological or chemical conversions and they can then be subsequently converted to “high-value bio-based chemicals or materials”.

You can read more and watch a video on BBC News where Flamini was interviewed.